Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Paperback | Pages: 342 pages Rating: 3.35 | 3457 Users | 455 Reviews
Define Regarding Books The Last Man
| Title | : | The Last Man |
| Author | : | Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 342 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 1993 by Bison Books (first published 1826) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Fiction. Science Fiction. Apocalyptic. Post Apocalyptic. Horror |
Narrative Conducive To Books The Last Man
The Last Man ends in 2100, "the last year of the world." A devastating plague has wiped out humanity, except for one man. This novel of horror, originally published in 1826, was rejected in its time and out of print from 1833 to 1963, when the first Bison Books edition appeared. Some critics now rate The Last Man more highly than Frankenstein, by the same author. This Bison Books edition offers a new introduction by Anne K. Mellor, who writes, "In our era of AIDS and biological warfare, Shelley's apocalyptic vision of an incurable plague that gradually destroys the entire human species resonates with mythic power."Specify Books In Favor Of The Last Man
| Original Title: | The Last Man |
| ISBN: | 0803292171 (ISBN13: 9780803292178) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Lionel Verney, Adrian, Earl of Windsor, Lord Raymond, Perdita Verney, Lady Raymond, Idris Verney, Countess of Windsor, Evadne, Clara of Raymond, Alfred Verney, Evelyn Verney, Ryland (The Last Man), Merrival the Astronomer, Lucy Martin, The Imposter, Juliet (The Last Man) |
| Setting: | Windsor, Berkshire, England Istanbul(Turkey) Perth, Scotland …more Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland Greece England …less |
Rating Regarding Books The Last Man
Ratings: 3.35 From 3457 Users | 455 ReviewsEvaluate Regarding Books The Last Man
Mary Shelley did not stop writing after Frankenstein and I was excited to come across her last novel "The Last Man", unfortunately I found it a difficult book to read and I came close to giving up on it all together. Indeed the first time I read it, I took a break of over a year in the middle of the book - it was not exactly compelling, read through the night material.The idea is that a plague wipes out humanity leaving one man alone to survive. This story is set in the future, Shelley's visionSo not only did Mary Shelley invent modern science fiction with Frankenstein, but she seems also to have invented post-apocalyptic fiction AND semi-gender-swapped Real Person Fanfiction with The Last Man. While the pacing is not that of a modern novel, the reimagining of Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Claire Clairmont and Mary herself (as well as several of their children) into fictional characters is delightful for anyone who's a fan of Romantic poets and a reader of their biographies. Shelley's
(NOTE: Oxford Classics' introduction-part can be spoilery.)Mary Shelley wrote more than Frankenstein (still need to read that one). This book was written 8 years after that book, after returning from Italy back to England, and after losing her husband to death. This and the loss of most of her children with him no doubt inspired the mood and the losses happening in this book, a book about gradual dwindling of people on earth due to a plague (which started in Egypt, then spread eastwards and
A profoundly sad reaction to Romanticism, initially vilified, mocked, and essentially blacklisted, before being recovered and championed in the 1960s. It's overlong, the language is annoyingly exalted, most of the characters are flat, and there's a lot of rubbish. Sounds tedious? It sort of is. This is definitely one of the few examples I've encountered of an excellent literary work that for much of its padded length feels somewhat interminable, but that emerges as a remarkable, deeply
It took me some while to get into The Last Man, both because of its slow start and my present preoccupation with moving house. The style throughout is extremely florid and capital-R Romantic, as you would expect from Mary Shelley. To set the scene prior to the apocalypse, however, the narrator describes in minute detail how noble, beautiful, and wonderful his friends, wife, and children are. This dominates the first 70 or so pages. There follows a war between the Greeks and Turks, concurrent
Bewitched. Enchanted. Enthralled. Smitten. Raptured. These are the words I am thinking to express my delight upon reading this book.
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